Here it is, Hanoi and all around. Met some cool Vietnamese and Ex-pats so I ended up hanging for a while. I dont feel like writing too much, but I uploaded a ton of pics for you guys. Halong Bay is nice; they are trying to get it named as one of the new seven wonders of the world. Personally, I thought Au Phang Nga (see previous blog) in Thailand was much better (and far cleaner). Horror stories of the trip to come once Im home. More pics of Vietnam to come...eventually! See you soon! [View Full Entry]

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After finishing the Gibbon Experience and living in the tree tops, I was pleasantly surprised upon my arrival in Luang Prebang. LP is a cute little town with something for everyone. There are some temples there, as well as restaurants, bars, shopping and some beautiful natural sights within a short drive. I was really lucky to find a nice place to stay with a helpful receptionist who spoke English very well. I ended up staying longer than most people, but I was just really enjoying the place. In addition to going to the bowling alley, for some reason a LP backpacker [View Full Entry]

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Laos and The Gibbon Experience (Huay Xai) Heading north from Chiang Mai, I made my way to the Thai/Laos border. Once I left the Thai town of Chang Khom, I entered Laos at Huay Xai. The Mekong river creates a natural border between Thailand and Laos, so basically all you need to do to cross is obtain your exit stamp in Thailand, hire a boat to take you across and obtain your entry stamp at the pier in Laos. Huay Xai is pretty much what you would expect from a border town- not impressive at all. Very small, not a lot [View Full Entry]

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After I left the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and the excitement of the tigers, I headed to Northern Thailand. I have to say, Chiang Mai is probably my favorite (non-beach) place so far. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and there is tons to do. “Old” Chiang Mai is actually surrounded by a moat which is really cool. Lots of good food, both Thai and Western. I had tons of great Mexican there and didn’t realize how bad I had missed it. Of course, with all this great food around, I HAD to take a cooking class. I found this really [View Full Entry]

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After I left the quaint but grubby little town of Ao Phang Nga, I headed to Khao Lak, where it was my intention to do some scuba diving in the Similan islands. However, the weather was a little too bad for the boat to make it out to the islands and after 3 days in a row I gave up. The storms caused the water to be extremely choppy; the waves rising as high as three meters and slamming into the boat with such a bang, it felt like the boat would certainly split. So, we had to turn around and [View Full Entry]

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After I left Krabi, I headed North to the town of Ao Phang Nga. This small town is mainly a jumping off point to the local national marine park. I strolled around the town a bit, and I have to say, it was kinda crummy. No offense to anyone, but there was only 1 restaurant! After I got off at the bus stop a hostel was recommended to me by the guy, Mr. Kean, who is the one-stop tour operator in the town. Very helpful and nice. And he must be well respected because mentioning his name always seemed to drop [View Full Entry]

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I sadly departed Ko Lanta and headed back to mainland Krabi. Krabi is a cute little town with a river running through it. There is a great night market where they serve all kinds of Thai food from little carts. The food is great and very authentic and it’s really cheap as well. Unfortunately, the weather was really bad and I also managed to get really sick. I don’t even have tonsils so I don’t know how I managed to get a sore throat and fever. I thought (only for a paranoid second) that maybe I had malaria, in spite of [View Full Entry]

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Finished in Ko Tao and took the overnight ferry. It took FOREVER! Had to sleep in very tight quarters- some very thin mattresses all lined up on the floor about 2 inches apart. It was not luxury to say the least. But, I arrived in Krabi and decided to go to Railay beach. Railay- Railay is comprised of two beaches- East and and West Railay. It is not technically an island, but a peninsula. East Railay is where I stayed. As our group got off the long tail boat, me and three Swedish girls started looking for accomodation, only to realize [View Full Entry]

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After I last wrote, I headed to Penang- an island off the Western coast of Malaysia. I spent two nights there. It was nice, pretty cheap and relaxing, but after I walked around a bit, I was ready to get back to the beach. There were a lot of mosques, temples and such. Really nice but I just wasnt feeling it. That was really obvious to me when I looked back and realized I only took about 5 pictures of the whole place! Besides, I was really anxious to get to Thailand. So, I headed to Ko Tao, an island on [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Kuala Besut from Taman Negara and took the fast boat to the islands. The Perhentian islands are made up of two islands, Besar (the larger) and Kecil (the smaller). Most backpackers stay on the smaller island as the larger island is more resort oriented. I stayed in Long Beach on the samller island. The locals are so friendly, and it’s a pretty quiet place. I arrived and of course, got sunburned my first day. My legs and feet are so burned, its incredible. My feet are so swollen, I look like Im pregnant! When I was in Taman Negara, [View Full Entry]

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